In society today there exists the potential for persons to be exposed to a variety of hazardous materials, whether by the intentional acts of others, or by accident. In the event of exposure to hazardous materials, decontamination and evacuation of persons and equipment becomes a priority. Exposed persons should be decontaminated as soon as possible to minimize the risk to their health. In addition, equipment must be decontaminated as soon as possible to protect the safety of persons using the equipment. Also, any exposed animals need to be decontaminated and evacuated as well.
History has shown that places where large crowds of people gather have been targets for attack. Today, there are a large number of places that can attract large numbers of people. These include, but are not limited to, concerts, sporting events, speeches, political rallies, state fairs, etc. Each of these events has proven to have the potential to draw large crowds of people and therefore the interest of terrorists. For example, there can be as many as two hundred thousand people at a race track during a race event. In addition to threats from terrorism, accidents have the potential to expose a large number of people to hazardous material. If an exposure occurs at one of these large gatherings, it is difficult to decontaminate all the people and equipment in a timely fashion using the current technique. Currently, in the event of an exposure, people and objects must be decontaminated, and the authorities, specifically the fire departments, which are ordinarily the first responders, have two main objectives. First, all people and objects exposed to the hazardous material need to be decontaminated, and second, the people and things need to be moved out of the affected area.
At the present time, decontamination is accomplished by rinsing with water. If in the future, a new liquid is developed that better decontaminates, the present invention will allow its use. Currently, decontamination of people and objects is accomplished by moving two fire trucks as close to the affected area as possible, turning nozzles attached to the trucks toward each other, commencing a flow of water to form a shower, and moving the exposed people and objects between the trucks while rinsing them with water. There are several problems with this method. First, fire trucks are typically large vehicles, and it is difficult to maneuver them through large crowds of people. Second, people need to be moved into the area of the fire trucks in order to pass between them and the sprays. Then, after being decontaminated (sprayed with water by the fire trucks), the decontaminated people need to be evacuated from the affected area so the remaining people and equipment can be decontaminated. This is especially difficult when people are confused and scared as they are frequently after exposure to hazardous material. Peoples's confusion adds to the difficulty of decontaminating and evacuating in a speedy and efficient manner.
One potential solution to these problems available at present is to take tents that form showers to the affected area. However, these tents are both heavy and awkward to move, requiring a vehicle to move them for any distance. Therefore these vehicles experience the same problems in movement as the fire trucks. Also, it takes time either to line up the fire trucks or to set up these portable tents. Decontamination can not begin until the trucks are in place or the tents are set up. The longer it takes to decontaminate persons exposed to hazardous material, the more dangerous the exposure becomes. Because of the limitations of the current methods, decontaminating large numbers of people and objects exposed to hazardous material is slow, inefficient, and in need of improvement.
The present invention solves these problems. Most of today's large venues and gathering areas have some means of controlling public access and egress. Usually this involves the venue or area being enclosed by a wall or fence. Access to the public in and out of the venue or area is restricted by the use of gates. As a result, people enter and exit only in certain places. The present invention (hereinafter called “watergate”) is intended to be used in place of the typical gate. Unlike the tents and fire-trucks used for decontamination now, the watergate is always in place and is always ready for use. It does not have to be carried to the affected area; it is already there. The watergate is superior to the present art because it accomplishes two main objectives at the same time. In a venue or area equipped with an operating watergate, people exposed to hazardous material are decontaminated and evacuated from the affected area simultaneously. With the watergate in operation, people are decontaminated and evacuated simply by moving through the activated watergate. Also, because people can be decontaminated and leave the area the same way they came in, they are less likely to be confused and more likely to be decontaminated and evacuated in a speedy and efficient manner. As a result, decontamination proceeds at a faster rate thereby minimizing the potential harm from extended exposure to the hazardous material.
In addition to its decontamination properties, the watergate also functions as a security gate. Like any other gate, the watergate opens, closes, and has locking abilities. It simply replaces the existing gate. The only additional, necessary component to the watergate is a water connection. This can be done by any available conventional means; even something as simple as a hose would suffice. Also, the watergate can be made to various specifications and out of many different materials. This allows the watergate to blend in and match the fence or walls already in place at any stadium, ball park, amusement park, military installation, government facility, arena, race track, industry, or any other place where a large number of people may gather. However, once opened and unfolded the watergate becomes a decontamination corridor. The watergate can be made to any size to accommodate people, vehicles, animals, or any other object needing to pass through it. It can have a variety of different types of nozzles for different volumes of liquid and different pressures. It can have different amounts of nozzles to meet the desired coverage area. The watergate can even be equipped to spray liquids other than water. It is simply a matter of providing a source of a different liquid and pumping it through the conduits. It is readily apparent that the various embodiments of the present invention provide a superior security and decontamination system that overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.